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03/25/2002 Entry: "The Simpsons"

I had a happy time today at the reading group I belong to. The book this session was The Gospel According to the Simpsons by Mark Pinsky. I can recommend it as an entertaining (and undemanding) read to all Christian fans of that fine cartoon, but I'm not convinced it lived up to its title. The essential problem is that it has no gospel to present - the show has very little to say about Jesus and the good news of God's free grace. It does say quite alot about religion and it is very funny, and that's worth a good deal in my view. But it isn't the gospel.What I find particularly interesting is that religion is taken for granted as an everyday part of life in Springfield, the backround against which events happen. This never happens in British TV shows, which seem to regard the church as only suitable for crackpots, social misfits and hypocrites. I suppose this reflects a difference between British culture and that of small town America. We often complain here of the "Americanization" of Britain (and the world), but if The Simpsons enables people to accept that faith can (and should) be part of normal life then it will have done us a great service.Incidentally, a poll of 1000 British schoolchildren voted Homer Simpson as the celebrity they'd choose as a father. Last year a poll of American college students picked Ned Flanders as the most famous Christian, way ahead of the Pope and Mother Theresa. Makes you think...